Improvement



, by J. B. TWilliams, February 9, 1858. stopper has the ball atv the upper end of its a discharging mouth or tube.v

. derneath the said ball and not spetter.

l l1 UNiTen STATES ,Tiro-nhs Lewis, or un IMPEGVEMENT EN In'rnnr @irrice- Lnnn, Mft-ssh criusnrrs.

BGTTLEBSTOPPRS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. t, dated'llieccmher Q1t 1F53,

To all whom, it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, Tnongiis Linvis, ofeialden, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improved ATubular Self-Closing Bottle-Stopper; and I do hereby dechire that the same is l'nll y described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings', ot which- Figure l is a top vier. of vthe said stopper;l Fig. 2, a side elevation ot' it; Fig. 3, a vertical and longitudinal section of it; Fig. 4, atop view with the lscrew-cap removed. Fig. isa bottom view of the said cap, Th bottle-stopper on which my improve ment is made contains a ball-val ve which is moved away from .its seat when the stopper or bottle in which it may beis inclined or turned downward, the valve being returned upon its seat when the bottle or the stopper is in an upright position. Gravity effects the movement ofthe ball. Stoppers of this nature have been in use for many years. An improved stopper of the kind was patented This discharging-tube, and kept in place by two arched wires or guides extending from th"I flange of the tube or seat of the ball, and around the ball. rDhis disposition of the bal-l exposes it to the accumulation of dust, and as' it is confined within the wire holders, which are permanentlyixed to the discharging-tube, it is d-itiicult to cleanse the ball.

In my improved stopper the ball and its seat are placed within a chamber furnished not only with a set of three or more guideribs, but with a separate screw-cap 'provided with retaining-bars or`t l1 ei'r equivalents, and By unscrewing and removing the cap from the main tube, the balL can easily be taken out of the latter and cleansed. Furthermore, it is protected from dust, and by means of the guide-rlbs of the chamber it is not only properly directed upon its scat, but is so held with reference to the column oi' l'l'uid which may at any time be iiowing throughthe-stopper as to be 'lifted thereby, so' as to cause the ilnid to pass un- Ihave found that when the current ilows"'over the top of the ball, it generally spatters too much in passing from the tu be.

.the 'stopper of the said \Villiams,'another im- So, with respect tol it and on a tube, c, which lcrins' a cond uetor into the conical chamber' d of the body A. Atthe lower part ot said chamber is the valveseat e, in which a ball-valve, B, rests. The inner surface of the chamber is furnished with three rilzs,fj` f f, which project therefrom at equal distances apart, and keep the ball from touching the sides ofthe chamber while moving in the said chamber.

ycross-bars g 7L, and a tubular dischargingmouth, i, arranged as shown in the'drawings, screws upon the upper end of the body. A. This cap, however, may be iitted by a bayonet-oatch insteadot'a screw.` The cross-bars of the cap, when the stopper is inclineddc yiiowage of the iluid by the bars and into the dischargingmouth tube. Atlthews'ame time, while' the guide-ribs insure the passage'of the Huid below the ball, so as to enable it tolil't the ball an'd'ilo\v"'entirely` underneath it, they act to Vprevent rotary motion of the huid, and thus further operateV to prevent spettering of it. Although the bars operate to prevent Spattering of the i'luid, they are of benefit in other respects, as they prevent the balll from sticking to the innersurt'ace of the cham-l ber and guide it to and yfrom its seat. `The disowingby the crossed bars, unites them again in one smooth stream.

' I donot claim a tubular self-closing bott-lestopper having a ball-valve; nor do I claim the improved stopper 4as patented by the ,said Villiams; but l i What I dovcluim isM with the separate cap C, provided with a `discharging tubular mouth, fi, and crossed bars g h, or equivalents, for detaining the ball, as

or body by a screw or itsequivalent.

In testimony whereof I have-hereunto set my signature.

` THOMAS LEWIS, Vitnesses:

R. HEDir/, F. P. Harn, le

flange or base` a., and a cork, b, applied below A separate screwcup, C, furnished with.

tain the ball or prevent it from arresting the Y,

chargingmouth, by concentrating the stream My improved ballfvalve stopper, as made c described, und connected with the main tube 

